A few years back, while prepping models for Chris Benz’s New York Fashion Week presentation, Manhattan superfacialist Eileen Harcourt and makeup artist Daniel Martin made a serendipitous discovery backstage. “Chris wanted the girls to have really great skin,” says Harcourt, who’d been called in by the designer to perform her signature oxygen facial (finished with a dab of her Liquid Gold serum) on his lineup of fresh faces before sending them on to the makeup chair. With glowing, moisturized complexions as the starting point, Martin found he could work his magic with little more than lightweight foundation, his favorite Tatcha blotting papers, and a dash of cantaloupe-colored lipstick. “The skin had an almost airbrushed quality,” he recalls. When the pair realized they shared a long list of high-profile model, actress, and fashion editor clients, a bright idea took root.

Now, luminous ingénues like Greta Gerwig and Crystal Renn swear by carefully synchronized appointments with the duo before major fashion moments. “If it’s a big event like the Met, someone might see Eileen in the afternoon and then come to me right afterward,” says Martin, who regularly calls the facialist to discuss their goals for a client the day before. “It’s like prepping your canvas. She might ask if I’m going to want the skin really dewy, or a little more matte. Maybe there’s some redness we want to work on; maybe they’ve been traveling and look a bit tired. By the time they get to me, they don’t need a ton of foundation. Everything else is just the icing on the cake.” E Harcourts Liquid Gold, $35, eharcourts.comTatcha Aburatorigami Papers, $13 for 30 sheets, tatcha.com